


Fighting Them Away

by Sincerely_Sierra



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: Bonding, Comfort, Family, Fluff, Gen, Motherly Cordelia, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-22 05:48:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17657075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sincerely_Sierra/pseuds/Sincerely_Sierra
Summary: Zoe experiences consistent nightmares and Cordelia does everything she can to fight them away for her. A bond blossoms.





	Fighting Them Away

**Author's Note:**

> This was too precious and wouldn’t leave me alone. It had to be done. We forget that the witches are human too, and they need comfort just like the rest of us. Here, I dive into it a bit deeper. 
> 
> —Sincerely, Sierra

The house is drafty and the heater is broken. Cordelia hates January. Their poor heater has been so overworked and there was a freeze warning announced yesterday. She told the girls to bundle up and use as many blankets as they could find, even if they smelled like they haven’t been touched since 1958. 

 

So far Cordelia has been getting the tail end of things. She looks childish in fleece snowman pants and a matching red thermal shirt, wrapped in her weighed blanket and duvet like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. Of course she has the disadvantage of being on the bottom floor where the cold spreads across the weak floorboards and ices her bedroom.

 

By the time Cordelia has managed to fall at least halfway asleep, a faint creak disturbs her. Images of the Axeman flood her mind. When she was blind, she was so helpless and didn’t know when danger was near. She has her normal sight now, but she doesn’t like when things go bump in the night. So when the floorboards moan under a certain weight, she stiffens and closes her eyes, hoping whatever it is will just go away if it thinks she’s already dead.

 

“Cordelia?” a small voice asks close to her face.

 

The Supreme’s brain knows that voice all too well. Zoe. The stress fades away, and she peeks her head out of the covers to find the 20-year-old witch looking at her with innocent, frightened eyes. Zoe is clutching her blanket by the edge, dragging it with her. She’s wearing fleece socks and a footless onesie pajama that makes her look even younger than she actually is.

 

“Zoe,” Cordelia says as she sits up and fumbles for her glasses. “What’s wrong?”

 

“I. . .I had a really bad nightmare and I couldn’t go back to sleep. I didn’t want to wake Madison up. . .” The girl looks unsure, like Cordelia will yell at her for disrupting her half-assed slumber.

 

Cordelia internally questions what Zoe is asking from her with this information. It’s late and she’s sleepy and confused. Zoe—or anyone, for that matter—has never wandered into her room in the middle of the night. This is new and she’s not sure if she likes it.

 

“I’m scared,” Zoe eventually whispers.

 

“I’m sorry, Zoe,” Cordelia says with sincere sympathy, then she nods towards her nightstand. “Do you want some water?”

 

With a shake of her head, Zoe rocks back and forth on her heels. She clutches the blanket to her chest and looks around the shadowy room, as if expecting something to jump out and make her wet herself like a toddler.

 

“Can. . .Could I lay with you?” the young witch eventually asks.

 

Taken aback, Cordelia hesitates. This is definitely new. Zoe is usually so reserved and always handles her problems on her own. Nightmares, heartbreak, death. She takes it on with a brave face. But not tonight. This is a first for everyone. Zoe Benson is afraid of what lurks in her head when the lights go out. She’s not afraid of zombies or ghosts or axe murderers. She’s afraid of the things she can’t control.

 

“Oh, honey, you don’t want to sleep with me,” Cordelia chuckles. “I move too much. I’ve been used to sleeping alone for a long while.”

 

Disappointment crosses Zoe’s face, then fear. Her eyes quickly dart from the open door and back to Cordelia. The staircase seems longer now, darker. She doesn’t want to go back up there. Not while she’s tired and vulnerable. Something might grab her and drag her into the abyss.

 

“I’m afraid. I don’t think Madison will let me sleep with her,” Zoe murmurs before she begins to backtrack. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be in here.”

 

“Don’t be sorry,” Cordelia says as she pushes the blankets off and rolls herself out of bed. “Come on. I’ll take you upstairs and tuck you in and give you some water.”

 

The older woman puts on her slippers, tucks Zoe beneath one arm, and carefully guides her up the stairs. Zoe buries her face in the side of Cordelia’s breast, shielding her face from the darkness and shadows dancing across the walls, distorting paintings and making candelabras shape-shift. The blanket drags limply behind her, bumping like a wave with every step. Her sweaty hand keeps a tight grip on it.

 

Madison is fast asleep in the shared room. Cordelia sees where Zoe struggled with her sleep; her bed is unmade and the sheets are wrinkled like wet fingers. She has a stuffed lion in the bed, too, all tangled in the blankets. Very carefully, Cordelia puts the young girl into her own bed, bringing the covers to her chin and tucking the plush animal in her arms. She sits at the edge of the bed and smooths back Zoe’s soft hair so she can see her face.

 

“Go to sleep,” Cordelia whispers. “It’s late. You look so tired. I’ll get you some water.”

 

Every room is equipped with two glasses and a crystal jug of fresh water to avoid late night trips to the kitchen. Cordelia pours a bit in a fresh glass and brings it to Zoe, who rejects it, turning her head away.

 

“Come on, Zoe. Just a little. It might make you feel better,” the Supreme coaxes.

 

“I don’t want that. Can you. . .stay with me? Just until I fall asleep?” Zoe meekly asks.

 

“Okay.” Cordelia smiles and sets the glass down. She tucks Zoe in tighter. “Do you want to talk about it?”

 

“It was terrifying,” Zoe murmurs. “I’m afraid to sleep. In case he comes back.”

 

“Oh, sweetie, your nightmare won’t come back. Close your eyes,” Cordelia whispers as Madison tosses in her bed. 

 

Obeying, Zoe shuts her tired eyes. Cordelia begins to stroke the silky brunette hair, twirling it here and there like she would a child. Zoe’s breathing slows down—not so panicky—and Cordelia is sure she’s asleep after a few minutes. Carefully, as to not ruin the progress, the woman slides off the bed and plants a soft kiss on Zoe’s forehead. She’s so warm.

 

“Goodnight.”

 

With her silent victory, she begins to walk back to her room.

 

“Cordelia!” Zoe suddenly shouts.

 

Jumping out of her cold skin, Cordelia halts in the doorway and spins to look at Zoe, who’s popped back up in bed like a groundhog, covers askew, lion strangled in her grip.

 

“What? What’s wrong?” Cordelia asks.

 

“Stay,” the small girl whimpers.

 

How can Cordelia say no? She can’t. The way Zoe looks at her so longingly and lovingly sucks her in, and she finds herself flocking to the bed again.

 

“Thank you,” Zoe murmurs, a tinge of pink coating her cheeks.

 

Cordelia gives a tiny, tired smile, and rubs Zoe’s back. She isn’t sure how this is supposed to put someone to sleep, but she saw it on a TV show, where a mother was trying to put her young child to sleep by rubbing her back. Maybe it’s comforting. Maybe it provides security. Whatever it is, Cordelia begins to enjoy it all the same.

 

Minutes tick by and Zoe’s not yet fallen asleep. She continues to toss and turn, and Cordelia gives her time to settle each time and then resumes rubbing her back. This goes on for at least twenty minutes, and Cordelia’s eyelids begin to fall on their own volition.

 

“Zoe, you need to sleep. It’s three am,” Cordelia whispers.

 

“I’m scared.”

 

It admittedly breaks Cordelia’s heart to hear this. Her poor witch is frightened half to death of something that only exists in her head and she can do nothing to stop it. Cordelia wants to fight every single phobia and fear away to make Zoe feel safe again, but how can she when the predator is only a figment of Zoe’s imagination?

 

“Can you tell me a story?” Zoe suddenly asks.

 

“Fine,” Cordelia gently sighs, but not in an annoyed way. She wouldn’t want to upset Zoe. So she climbs next to Zoe rather than at the edge of her bed, and she wraps one arm around the young girl and takes the lion. “Give me this damn thing.”

 

After she sets the lion behind her head for support, Cordelia brings the blanket tighter around Zoe and herself. She clears her throat.

 

“Okay, once upon a time, there was a huge house is the middle of New Orleans,” Cordelia begins. “It was bigger than anyone had ever seen, and one day, a young girl came to the house. She was special, because she knew magic. She had been born with it just like her mother, so she was sent to a school for girls just like her.”

 

Zoe begins to calm down, listening to her Supreme’s soothing voice. She’s not too particular about what the story is about, so long as Cordelia continues rubbing her back like she’s doing.

 

“The girl grew up in that school, and she was guided by a magnificent witch. Her mother didn’t really care for her, so the great witch, whom she nicknamed Auntie, took the most care of her, ensuring she would be powerful beyond her days. Years went on and the girl grew into a woman with immense power and became headmistress. She got married to a man and delved herself into her work and making sure the few witches she took into her home were safe and loved,” Cordelia says, keeping a hand on Zoe’s head. She pauses.

 

“Are you going to finish?” A tired voice mumbles from across the room.

 

“Madison, go back to sleep,” Cordelia groans, head tilted back. The last thing she needs two witches with insomnia. She reprises her soothing voice and looks down at Zoe. “Anyway. The woman continued to grow. She wanted a child of her own to love, but she couldn’t have one, even when she resorted to magic for help. Soon her own mother returned to the school and showed her that maybe, just maybe, motherhood wasn’t for her. Her husband didn’t love her. Her mother hated her until the day she died. Auntie was burned at the stake. Twice. And the woman was left alone in the dark for so long that she lost sight—literally—of herself.”

 

Zoe doesn’t have to look at Cordelia to know that she is tearful; she can hear it in the way the Supreme’s voice quakes towards the end. The small witch curls further into herself and rests her head on Cordelia’s chest, eyes drooping.

 

“But she slowly recovered. She wasn’t married anymore, and she could see again. Turns out, she was more powerful than anything. She saw how wonderful her life was, and she appreciated it. She loved who she was, and she began to realize that the few people she had left in life truly mattered. She spent every day from then on hoping for a better future for herself and the other special girls in her home. Life was beautiful for the woman, and though some days and nights were hard, they pulled through it, because power conquers everything. The end.”

 

The grip previously strangling Cordelia’s shirt has loosened, and the Supreme looks down to find Zoe fast asleep against her. Cordelia carefully attempts to ease her way out of the bed, but Zoe startles and resumes grasping her tightly as she sleeps.

 

“Zoe? Come on, sweetheart. I have to go back to my room,” Cordelia murmurs.

 

Nothing.

 

A few more failed attempts to escape show Cordelia that the girl refuses her to leave, so she surrenders and tries to make herself as comfortable as possible in the narrow bed, the lion still stuck behind her head as her only support. She’s not laying down, but sitting up, used as a pillow by Zoe, but she hardly minds. Something about having someone there who needs her is selfishly comforting for Cordelia.

 

“Goodnight, Zoe,” murmurs Cordelia as she closes her own eyes.

 

The rest of the night is silent, not a nightmare in sight.

 

+++

 

The next morning is brutal. Cordelia wakes up in Zoe’s little bed, stiff as all hell with something soft and furry wedged behind her neck. She hardly remembers putting Zoe’s plush there last night. The rest of her body goes from stiff as a board to completely achy. She won’t allow Zoe to know that, though, in case Zoe assumes she hurt Cordelia.

 

It’s eight am by the time Cordelia gets Zoe unlatched from her. She lays the young witch flat on her back and pulls the covers over, peeking over at Madison’s bed. She’s a mess of blonde hair and blankets, luckily still sound asleep. God, that girl sleeps like a damn rock.

 

After stretching out her back the best she can, Cordelia tiptoes out of the room and makes her way downstairs. The house is mostly silent, but the sound of music draws Cordelia into the kitchen. Misty is making herself a bowl of cereal with plant milk. Her radio is perched on the counter, gently playing Stevie Nicks. Cordelia isn’t familiar with the song.

 

“Good morning, Delia,” Misty chirps.

 

“Good morning. Why are you up so early? It’s cold down here,” Cordelia says, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

 

“I slept well last night. I woke up awhile ago and went to check on my plants. I’m wide awake now. It’s a great morning! The sun is out and everythin’!” The Cajun twirls around with her bowl of cereal and hops her way to the table before taking a critical look at her Supreme. “You look like a zombie. Did ya sleep at all?”

 

Cordelia chews the inside of her lip. In truth, she did sleep, just not as well as she’d have liked. She also does not want to mention Zoe’s nightmares to anyone without her consent. They can be humiliating to some people, like a taboo, despite being a normal part of life. She decides to disregard it.

 

“I slept okay. I was too cold,” Cordelia simply states as she absentmindedly peels a banana.

 

“I’m sure I could fix that heater if ya let me,” Misty offers and takes a big bite of her cereal dripping with plant milk. Cordelia’s stomach clenches.

 

“I’ll just call the repairman. Wouldn’t want the house to burn down.” It’s presented as a joke, but Cordelia is serious about it. She doesn’t want anyone going near that heater, especially if they have the ability to cause fire themselves.

 

Cordelia finishes off her banana and Misty places her empty bowl in the sink, telling Cordelia that she’s going out to the greenhouse to water her plants again. Cordelia is left to her solitude for once, so she sits at the table, alone, and thinks long and hard about the “story” she told Zoe last night.

 

She doesn’t know where it came from. Her mouth opened and she just let it out. Perhaps her real emotions came bubbling up too fast and splashed over the rim. In no way is she in a place to judge Zoe—or any of her girls—for seeking comfort. Cordelia wanted nothing more than comfort and warmth from her mother and she was left high and dry to pick up the pieces on her own. That is something she refuses to allow these girls to endure.

 

When Zoe comes downstairs sometime after, sans blanket, Cordelia is still lost in thought. It takes a sniffle from Zoe to pull her away, and it startles her for a moment. The young witch before her seems tired but also content, not so afraid now that the sun is up and the shadows have left.

 

“Oh, Zoe,” Cordelia sighs sympathetically. “You’re so tired. Go back upstairs and sleep some more. I don’t mind. There are no classes today.”

 

Shaking her head, Zoe draws nearer to the woman, careful and unsure. Without a word or even so much as a sigh, she envelopes Cordelia in a tight embrace, which the Supreme returns once the shock has worn off.

 

“Thank you,” Zoe murmurs into Cordelia’s neck. “So much.”

 

In response, Cordelia holds her tighter to her chest. She’s shivering.

 

“I’ll always be here for you,” Cordelia tells her as they break away. “No matter what.”

 

“It’s just. . .I would go into my mom’s room when I had nightmares and she would send me away. . .” Zoe says, fidgeting with her thumbs.

 

Cordelia feels a bit guilty. Technically, she did try to send her away the first time. Perhaps it was a knee-jerk reaction, taken by surprise.

 

“But you actually took care of me. You didn’t just leave me there. I was very scared and didn’t know what to do,” Zoe quietly admits. “I just like listening to your voice. It calms me down.”

 

Warmth spreads through Cordelia’s chest, and she encases the girl again, resting her chin on Zoe’s head. They remain that way for awhile until Madison stumbles down the stairs in unicorn slippers like she’s two years old. She stops at the two witches hugging each other and scoffs.

 

“Ew, gross,” she says, nose crinkling.

 

“Affection is a good thing, Madison,” Cordelia says, practically cradling Zoe in her lap now. “Maybe you should try it.”

 

“Nope. I’m good being stone-cold. Speaking of which, the freezing air woke me up and I can’t go back to sleep. I’m pissed off. Now I’m just annoyed. You give Zoe all the attention and what do we get? Coldness? How come she got a bedtime story and I didn’t?” Madison folds her arms over her chest.

 

“Aw, Madison,” Cordelia coos. “Come here.”

 

“No. You’re gross.”

 

“Come on, Madison,” teases Cordelia. “Under your mean, rough shell is a scared little girl and you know it. You’re only human. Now come over here.”

 

Giving in, Madison shuffles closer and awkwardly pats Cordelia’s head like a dog, and Cordelia pulls her closer with her free arm as the other cradles Zoe in a baby position. It’s stiff at first, but Madison eventually loosens up in Cordelia’s embrace, accepting it for what it is. They stay in a convoluted clutch, tightly knitted together.

 

“This is weird,” Madison says. “We never do this.”

 

“I think it’s time we start. Don’t you?” Cordelia suggests.

 

“We come from broken homes. This is not something we’re used to,” she huffs. “All this warm shit is making me sick.”

 

“You literally just complained that you didn’t have attention,” mumbles Zoe, burying her head in Cordelia’s neck. “You have it now.”

 

Queenie enters in her pajamas. Her eyebrows raise at the scene before her; Zoe in Cordelia’s lap and Madison allowing the Supreme to hug her by the waist. She wishes she had her phone or a camera.

 

“What’s happening? Which one of you is dying?” Queenie asks.

 

“None of us, I hope,” Cordelia chuckles. “Free hug?”

 

The Supreme of the coven offering a free hug is so hilarious to Queenie that she can not refuse, so she shimmies over to them and wraps Madison in a tight hug, which causes the blonde to shriek and fight her off.

 

Misty returns, slipping her coat off and hanging it on the hook. She goes to wash her hands but notices the four witches viciously embracing each other.

 

“Aww, y’all look so cute. I want a turn.” Misty grins.

 

Queenie is practically strangling Madison in her grip, and Misty joins in, so Madison is smushed between them and crying out for Cordelia to “do something.” All Cordelia does is laugh.

 

“Ugh! I take it back, I hate affection!” Madison says as she rips away from the two. “I’m going back to sleep. I don’t care if I freeze.”

 

“Let us warm ya up,” Misty says, nudging the voodoo witch.

 

Madison runs upstairs and Queenie chases after her, followed by Misty, in a whirlwind of frigid air. Shaking her head, Cordelia looks down at the suddenly still girl in her lap.

 

“Zoe?” Cordelia gently asks.

 

Nothing but gentle breaths are heard. Cordelia moves the honey brown locks from Zoe’s face to find she’s fallen fast asleep on her shoulder, pink lips slightly agape.

 

Cordelia can’t find it in herself to move her, so she sits there and stares out the window until she can’t feel her legs, and only then does she attempt to rouse the young girl. Zoe mutters something incoherent and allows her head to fall again.

 

“Come on, Zoe. Let’s get you back into your own bed,” Cordelia coaxes one last time, but it’s futile.

 

Attempting to stand with Zoe in her arms to carry her to her room is worse, so Cordelia sits back down and allows Zoe to sleep, though her legs feel as if they’re detached from her body. After a half-hour cat nap, Zoe wakes and tiredly looks up at Cordelia, eyes glazed over.

 

“I love you, Cordelia,” Zoe whispers.

 

Cordelia grasps her tighter and kisses the top of her head. “I love you, too, Zoe.”


End file.
